The Hunger Games: Safe & Sound
by fantasyfreak133
Summary: What if Katniss and Peeta hadn't been picked for the Games, but bitter orphan Terra Hunter and Capitol hater Gale Hawthorne? What horrors will they face in a Game where children fight to the death? What sacrifices will be made to keep those they care for safe? What love might be found amidst anger and betrayal?
1. Whispers in the Dark

**WHISPERS IN THE DARK**

I was running. Running for my life. I crashed through the darkness like a blind animal, branches tore at my hair and clothing and thorns scratched my exposed skin as I darted past. I was covered in blood, weakened by fighting and running. My breath came out short and fast; painful excursion on my lungs as I struggled to get enough air. My heart hammered in my chest like a war drum in my ears, as if chanting my death. The darkness seemed to close in around me as I ran, like a cage who's bars I couldn't see. There was no moon, no stars, no breeze, no calls from night animals... only the whispers. The whispers in the dark. They laughed at me, called me by name, but I knew they meant my death. They were like light hearted devils, but the crave for blood was still heard in their silky voices nonetheless. I couldn't help the cry that tore from my lips as I fell. Dirt jammed up into my mouth but I spat it out as I scrambled to my feet again.

"Terra! Come on baby, we won't hurt you... we just want to play!"

I whimpered as I ran in pain and terror. I was going to die. The voices chanted my death. I had told myself once that I wasn't afraid to die. That my life wasn't worth carrying on. I would welcome death in fact, I had said. But now that death was upon me, I knew that I truly did not want to die. The faces of the orphans at home, of my best friend standing in the window of the baker's shop, of the man I had grown to love, all those beloved faces flashed through my head as I realized that I was wrong before. I _did_ care if I died. And I cared that I was going to go out this way. Speared on a pike? Lassoed by spiked chains? Cut into tiny pieces and left as raven food on the grass? Those were just a few guesses, I refused to think of more.

"Come to us, we will send you to eternal peace!" the voices laughed. "To a place where there is no more pain... no more suffering... no more torments..."

I would be tempted to listen to them if I didn't already know my fate. A special corner in hell was reserved for my kind. I had done too many things in my life to not deserve it. But deep in the corner of my heart, I knew lay a hope that I would indeed get past those pearly gates.

"Terra..."

The voices were still speaking, whispering things at me that made my blood turn to ice. I kept running, even though it pained me to breath and my legs felt like lead. I had to keep running.

So I kept running, the black cage continued to press in on me, I bled, I cried, I made a wish on a star that I couldn't see.

And the voices continued to whisper at me through the dark.


	2. Author's Note

**Author's Note:**

I hope you liked that little introduction, and I also hope it helps prelude for the things to come! ;-)

So, the first thing I want to make clear is that I didn't like The Hunger Games. I know, I know! Since you clicked on this you probably are all HG fans and I will probably get beat up for that.

And don't worry, I _am_ writing the story I described in the synopsis, and its not to bash the HG at all, I just want to explain a couple of things first.

I actually enjoyed _The Hunger Games_ the most. I didn't care for _Catching Fire_, and I threw _Mockingjay_ across the room when I finished it.

So, let's start with HG. I liked it the most because it was introducing a whole new world, a new culture, new characters. But I didn't like the writing style... at all. I was incredibly simple and I thought the present tense didn't do it justice. It was choppy and not very descriptive (do I have to say anything else?). Katniss drove me insane. She was like Bella from Twilight. Selfish, not much personality and all of the guys liked her. Even when she was sooo boring! And on that note, _why_ did Gale and Peeta fall in love with her? She didn't show either one of them much respect. Especially Peeta, he was the sweetest guy ever and she was so mean to him! I really don't understand why he fell in love with her but, whatever, they ended up semi happy.

Gale doesn't have much personality either. Which is why I wanted to make him one of the main characters in my story.

The only characters I enjoyed were Cinna and Rue. And they both had such small roles which mad me REALLY sad!

The only thing I thought Mrs. Collins wrote well is the politics. They were very real and she didn't hold back on the truth of evil government and war. It was very realistic in the way things played out.

My story is not during _Catching Fire_ and _Mockingjay_, so I'll just explain them in one paragraph. CF seemed like just a redo of HG with a few things different of course but still really similar. (I did like how the games were on an island though). I just felt sick to the stomach as I read MJ. I don't hate books or movies. I may disliked them, but I don't hate them... Well, last year I both watched and read something I hated. For movies, I now hate _Gone with the Wind_, and for books, I now hate _Mockingjay_. It had no redeeming value, no one got a happy ending, it was just sick all the way through. And even though it did explain the reality of war, it was just too much. I felt so disgusting after I read it I had to go watch _Enchanted_ just so I could laugh and try to feel better.

So, yeah.

Time to talk a little bit about my story.

My story is basically: _What if Katniss and Peeta didn't get picked for the Hunger Games? _What if a bitter orphan named Terra Hunter and Katniss' friend and Capitol hater Gale Hawthorn were picked?

So, basically this story is how I would have written the HG. I am going to be following the original story line as close as I can, but just with my own writing style and characters.

It is named after Taylor Swift's song, "Safe and Sound," which she wrote for the HG. It is named after the song because that is what Terra sings to sooth the children at the orphanage and what she sings to herself to help her keep going. She holds onto the hope throughout the HG that she will end up safe and sound.

It is rated M for violence, reference to sex, some language, abuse, drinking, rape, and disturbing scenes.

I know its a lot but you will understand once you start. This is the life of Terra Hunter and it is brutal.

_Welcome to the world of the Hunger Games..._

~fantasyfreak133


	3. Title

**THE HUNGER GAMES**

* * *

It is decreed that each year one boy and one girl from each district will be handed over

as tribute to pay the price for the lives lost in the uprising against the higher peoples.

* * *

**"Safe & Sound"**

-Taylor Swift-

(feat. The Civil Wars)

_I remember tears streaming down your face_

_When I said, "I'll never let you go"_

_When all those shadows almost killed your light_

_I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone"_

_But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight_

_Just close your eyes_

_The sun is going down_

_You'll be alright_

_No one can hurt you now_

_Come morning light_

_You and I'll be safe and sound_

_Don't you dare look out your window, darling,_

_Everything's on fire_

_The war outside our door keeps raging on_

_Hold on to this lullaby_

_Even when music's gone_

_Gone_

_Just close your eyes_

_The sun is going down_

_You'll be alright_

_No one can hurt you now_

_Come morning light_

_You and I'll be safe and sound_

_Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh_

_Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh_

_La La (La La)_

_La La (La La)_

_Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh_

_Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh_

_La La (La La)_

_Just close your eyes_

_You'll be alright_

_Come morning light,_

_You and I'll be safe and sound..._

_Oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh oh oh. _


	4. Prologue

**Prologue:**

The Hunger Games are a sign of the Capitol's mercy and forgiveness.

HA!

That would make even the most serious, bitter person of the entire Seem laugh. Which, includes me, I guess. I wasn't born bitter or serious, in fact, when I tried, I could even be considered funny. If you could laugh at my brutal battle humor anyway. That's what Peeta calls it: 'my battle humor.' He didn't laugh at it, not very often anyway. He was the opposite of me, funny, caring, gentle. While I tended to be bitter, rough and used too much foul language. I kept most of that for the silence of the woods or the Hob though. I didn't want the children at the orphan home picking up on it. Respectable people don't use language. And I wanted them to grow up with dignity for themselves and others... Not like me, who has about as little respect for other's as I do the squirrels I hunt.

The orphan home is where I grew up. They said I was brought in as a baby so I haven't any clue of who I was before that, and neither do the staff at the home. Even when I was young I was rough and hostile. I had to fight my way all growing up... The older kids seemed to think I had enough spunk to put up with their torments... which was really only their own pain, locked away deep inside them. And to lessen it a little, they picked on me. I'm not really sure how this made them feel better but it seemed to, and they just kept on picking.

As I got older I began to fight back. And that was when I was finally kicked out at age thirteen. I was going to have to leave soon anyway though, they needed more room for the younger kids coming in and the older ones were more likely to survive all alone in the district. I didn't mind that. I wanted the younger orphans to have somewhere safer and I liked being on my own. I was hungry a lot but that wasn't a new feeling. The problem was finding shelter during bad weather and avoiding the gangs that roamed the district looking for fresh prey... But even so, I still managed, I learned to blend in—to disappear.

After a few weeks of starvation I finally found a way out of the electrical fence that surrounds district twelve. The fence is supposed to keep the flesh eaters out (which it does, to an extent) but it was really meant to keep us in. And it did, if you didn't count the desperate souls like myself.

I knew a little bit about hunting. Old Sam taught me how. Old Sam was an elderly black man who tended the garden outside the orphan home. He was my only friend... no, not just a friend. He was like a father to me growing up. He was the one who helped me control my temper, tended my scraps when I got beat up and who taught me everything I knew. He was skilled in herb lore and even hunting. He never took me to hunt but he taught me how to shoot a bow, throw a dagger and even how to defend my self in hand-to-hand combat. He taught me in secret of course because if anyone found out, then we'd _both_ be death faster then you could say Hunger Games.

He was the one who taught me the song... _Safe and Sound_. It was about our world... how we must turn a blind eye to the horror around us so we can stay at least semi-sane. How, if we just keep plowing through life, someday we might find that message in the song. We might be safe and sound.

Old Sam was my dad, you could say. He taught me everything and I loved him. But he died when I was nine. That's when I started to get violent, because the only one who had taught me to control my anger and to just let it go was gone. I tried to do what was right for _him—_to make him proud. But now that he was gone... I didn't have anything, I was a shell; a shell full of anger. And I didn't have anyone to heal the cracks in my shell when it broke, Sam was gone. So all the anger flew out of the cracks. And finally I was kicked out. And like I said before, I didn't mind at all. It was a chance to get away from the bullies, it was a chance to be free and do what ever I liked... it was a chance to go and _hide_.

... It was a chance to put to use all of the survival things Sam taught me.

I found a way out of the district. I began to use my herb lore, I practiced even more with my weapons. And since that day, I've been hunting.

Sure, its as dangerous as walking into hell. But it keeps me alive, and the children at the home too. I take most of my kill to them. There are two hundred of them... Two hundred starving kids. And I help feed them. There's satisfaction in that. It helps to keep me going, to persuade me to want to live another day. I help keep the kids from starvation and ultimate death, and they give me just enough joy with their hopeful faces and small gifts to make me want to keep on living...


End file.
